Head-mounted computer displays may be viewed as "eye glasses" that are worn by the user to view images created by a computer. The image seen by each eye is generated on a display screen having a two dimensional array of pixels. If the display screen is placed in front of the viewer's eyes, the resulting device extends outward from the viewer's face. This leads to a bulky display, which is objectionable both because of its size and weight.
To reduce the size and weight of the portion of the display that extends in front of the wearer's eyes, designs in which the display is mounted on the side of the glasses have been suggested. By mounting the display on the supports that extend over the wearer's ears, the weight is supported by the wearer's ears and nose, thus reducing the weight and bulk that is cantilevered in front of the wearer's nose.
For this type of design to be successful in reducing the weight and bulk of the portion of the display that extends out past the viewer's nose, some form of "turning optic" is needed in front of the user's eyes to reflect the image generated by the display screen back into the user's pupils. The simplest form of turning optic would be a mirror that reflects the light generated by the display and imaging optics back into the eye. However, it can be shown that such an optical system would protrude forward from the face by approximately 3 cm or more. While this is an improvement over systems in which the display is placed in front of the viewer's face, it would be advantageous to reduce this thickness further.
Broadly, it is the object of the present invention to provide an improved turning optical arrangement for use with head mounted displays and the like.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a turning optical arrangement that is less than half of an inch in thickness.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.